If you are a fan of early Arena you should not skip this review. Sorry for the somewhat authoritative tone of this opening line, but I mean well because Lost Horizon, the new album of the French band Eye 2 Eye is really beautiful and if it makes me happy, then maybe you will too. I've been following this band since the beginning and over the years there have been very good albums such as The Light Bearer (2017) and Nowhere Highway (2020, see review) and also some lesser ones. There has always been a bit of a struggle with the vocals and several vocalists have been active, with varying degrees of success. My favourite Eye 2 Eye album (so far) is the already mentioned The Light Bearer and on this album Michel Cerroni almost literally sings his lungs out and that is accompanied by a near overdose of emotions. Too much for some maybe but I like it, not a standard singer who keeps everything neatly within the lines but with a characteristic and unique sound. After the lesser vocals on the otherwise fine album Nowhere Highway, the band has now put forward an English singer named Paul Tilley and what a good move that is. Like a lot of other French bands (Nine Skies, Nemo, Apairys) they don't opt for the most accessible melodies but as a listener it has to grow on you. The album actually contains 4 tracks but the last long suite Lost Horizon consists of three parts. Then you guessed it, those are long tracks and that always makes me hopeful. Before I go into the songs, a small addition. I'm quite sensitive to guitar work and since The Light Bearer it's Bruno Pegues, brother of drummer and co-founder Didier Pegues, who plays the guitar. Initially a bit timid and modest, he already showed that he has an excellent sense of melody and on Lost Horizon he has completely crawled out of his shell and plays one beautiful solo after another with way more confidence. Not the most technical and not focused on shredding but on feeling and emotion and you can hear that all over the album. Album opener Garden Of Eden starts off quite intensely after a mellow start and is therefore immediately a forebode of what's to come. I hear a lot of early Arena and I love that very much. Tilley immediately puts his stamp on the sound and doesn't always choose the easiest vocal lines. Mind you, he sings fine and pure but throws a good portion of drama into his vocals. Not as much as Cerroni (who contributes some background vocals) but more like Paul Wrightson (ex-Arena). From the very beginning of this band, keyboardist Philippe Benabes, the other co-founder, has been mostly responsible for the sometimes full and bombastic sound, but also shows that he can play very sensitive piano pieces. Mentioned should also be the addition of the violin, played by Elise Bruckert, because that's where Eye 2 Eye distinguishes itself from the aforementioned bands. Very dosed, this instrument occasionally comes to the fore and that makes the group sound even more complete. In the almost ten minutes that Garden Of Eden lasts, we hear how a man describes his broken relationship that turns from a paradisiacal feeling to pure anger. He calls his ex wife/partner a vicious snake and the intonation of his singing says it all. The middle part contains one of those nice melodic guitar solos and towards the end the band goes all out again. After such a start you hope for a proportional follow up and with The Letter they slow down to play a classic love song but with a lot of feeling and of course...., exactly a fine guitar solo. This is well chosen for the balance of the album because with Meadows Of Silence the brakes are released again and the emotion splashes off. From a child's point of view, a war situation is described that could be anywhere in the world. Musically, this of course leads to a song with a lot of drama and vocally Tilley adapts perfectly to this. Full bombast and after more than six minutes the war sounds make way for an abrasive guitar solo. Again, not a very easy melody and after good keyboard work, heavy bass work by Djam Zaïdi provides the support of Tilley, who indicates that the child will eventually find his long-lost family again in the Meadows Of Silence (Death) The epic Lost Horizon is the long sequel to the story about a frustrated writer introduced on the previous albums (Ghosts Part 1 to Ghosts Part 6) and thus forms the Ghost Endgame. In this suite everything that Eye 2 Eye stands for passes by and that results in musical fireworks. From heavy bombastic pieces to sensitive violin passages supported by Benabes' piano and a wonderfully soloing Pegues on guitar. As said, not always the most obvious melodies, which makes this album quite a challenge for the listener. The story continues with the protagonist putting his poetry in bottles and throwing it into the sea and then throwing himself into the sea too. It's not really cheerful, but when these bottles are eventually found by a mermaid, the story might take a twist after all. In the final part Sad Eyed Siren we hear a beautiful melody sung like a siren and accompanied by howling guitar outbursts and mesmerizing keys. That was quite a ride and certainly not a happy album but I just want to hear it over and over again. It will come as no surprise, but the high rating is more than deserved as far as I'm concerned. ****+ Erik Fraanje (edited by Tracy van Os van den Abeelen) Where to buy? |
